Five Features Your Next CRM Needs To Maximize Your Sales – Forbes

If youve launched your business in recent years, you probably know this very well: Choosing a CRM is almost as difficult as choosing your industry, product and target market. Every developer with some free time seems to have built one, and as a result, there are now thousands of CRMs to choose from.

Instead of telling you which one to choose, lets do something better. Here are the main features that a great CRM needs to have before you consider it your sales tool of choice.

1. Interaction Tracking

The path from a cold lead to a repeat customer is not a straight line. In fact, it can take months before someone who found your product decides to buy. And unless you know each step they take before handing over their cash, you wont know how to improve your sales process.

A great CRM needs to have the option of tracking each interaction that a lead makes with your business. From the very first time they view your website, when they open your email and when they get a call from your reps, you need to be able to see which moves they make. That way, you can spot your weaknesses and hone your strengths.

On a different note, its also easier to see who handled what in your sales process. One rep could talk to a lead through email, and another one could pick up their inbound call. There is no way for the person receiving the call to know the previously exchanged information unless the interactions were tracked from the very start.

2. Document Management

It can be a nightmare to upload all of your sales documentation to the cloud. Things can get slow and messy and sorting through your most important documents can get complicated.

If you want to connect your marketing and sales teams and have all your most important documents in one place, you need a CRM with a document management feature. This way, you can upload all the documents in a single location and avoid the potential information mismatch that could ruin your sales. Moreover, you can also upload documents for your customers, such as proposals, contracts, technical specifications and anything else that comes to mind.

3. A Mobile App

Lets be honest here you wont do any hardcore selling on your phone when youre out and about. However, a good CRM needs to have a mobile version of its app, especially if you have a strong outside sales team; a mobile app can be a game-changer for them. They could update their lead data on the go, view alerts and deal updates, and check up on everything they need without opening up their laptop.

4. Integrations Galore

The ultimate goal of any sales professional is to work smarter, not harder. That requires plenty of integrations and the ability to automate tasks. In other words, your CRM should play well with a variety of different tools if you want it to save you time and money.

Some examples include integrations with email marketing software, lead generation software, project management apps, and website and landing page builders. I would argue that an email marketing integration is the most crucial because you need to see each interaction you had with a lead (through email) when you pull up their file. Finally, its crucial to be able to receive payments through your CRM. Some customers prefer paying immediately instead of dealing with complex invoices and bank processes.

5. A Dialer

Perhaps your business doesnt rely heavily on outbound or inbound calls. However, the phone is still one of the primary ways to get in touch with the right decision-makers, especially in B2B. If you rely heavily on calls, its an absolute must to have a built-in dialer in your CRM app.

The benefits are numerous: From being able to call many more numbers than you could with a stand-alone phone app, to being able to add calls to your list of lead interactions, there are plenty of reasons a dialing feature should be a part of your CRM.

When you figure out the features you need in a CRM, the list of thousands of available apps shrinks down to just a handful of the best ones for you.